Double-sided Plaque Depicting a Lion and Birds
Ptolemaic Period (332-30 BCE)
Medium
Limestone and pigment
Dimensions
19.4 × 19.1 × 1.3 cm (7 5/8 × 7 1/2 × 1/2 in.)
Classification
plaque (flat object)
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
93553
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This piece was reused several times. Over the initial design of a lion, an artist drew a grid in order to copy the image to another surface. At a later date, the plaque was used as a note pad at which time the ink inscription was added. The notation is a list of names, perhaps witnesses to a transaction.
About the Artist
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian artists, a collective of highly skilled artisans spanning over three millennia from the Predynastic period (c. 6000–3150 BC) to the Roman era (30 BC–4th century AD), produced some of humanity's most enduring masterpieces. These anonymous craftsmen, often organized in state-sponsored workshops, lived in dedicated communities like Deir el-Medina near Luxor during the New Kingdom (c....